sins paid in blood
by Dimensional Gallery God
Summary: my take on what would happen if ed couldn't save al in episode 51
1. prolouge

Ed sighed as he plopped down at his desk. Gabbing a pack of smokes from his military unform pocket he lit one and let it hang in his mouth. Glancing at the contents of the folder on his desk tapped the ash into his ashtray. slipping a pair of unloaded 1911 colts into his shoulder holsters he stood up. "Havoc, Hawkeye, Falman, Breda with me." Double checking his equipment he made for the exit, the four following his tail.

"What's up E-" Havoc was cut off by Ed's glare "I mean sir." Breda, Falman and Hawkeye felt a shiver run down their spines at Ed's look. Havoc grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket. Before he could light one the pack was snatched from his hands by Ed.

"Thanks Havoc I was running low." He shoved the pack into his right side pocket and turned away from the four of them. "Strange incidents in a major town nearby. Disappearences of influenticial citizens and reported alchemist sightings. The General request that it be investigated and if I don't kill them first the alchemist are to be incapacitated and brought back here and tortu- I mean questioned. Any questions?" Ed asked.

"I do sir" Breda spoke up. "Is this legit or an excuse to skip your therapy appointment?" Ed growled and turned on heel to face Breda. Falman stepped between them to run damage control.

"Your lucky this assignment is urgent or I would court martial you" Ed growled, voice full of venom. Riza flinched at Ed's tone. The memory of how Ed turned to his current self surfaced from her memories.

**FLASHBACK START**

Ed shifted foot to foot as the unit Roy commissoned to rescue Al assembled, patience waning as they kept wasting time. Sience dominated the hall as Roy began to speak. "Men, I won't lie to you. Some of you will die, others will be grievously injured. If your not willing to risk your lives leave now." In a span of second the only people left were all the military alchemists(a/n all of them are alive except Tucker he's dead that sob deserves it for what he did to Nina, oh and Scar is a good guy/state alchemist in this fic), Hawkeye, Breda, Falman, Fury and Havoc.

Ed rushed the door to the ballroom as he heard Al let out a scream of anguish and then there was no sounds after that. His heart shattered noticing the blood that had held Al's soul was completely destroyed and mangled beyond recognition. Envy smirked seeing the lifeless look in Ed's eyes. The homoculi all stood in on the array as Dante activated it. When the light died down Dante lay dead on the ground and the former homoculi lay collasped on the array as their body finished the transition of homoculus to human. Letting his rage take control of him he clapped his hands and truned his automail into a sword.

"FULLMETAL/ED!!" Everyone in the group that tried in vain to rescue Al ran in after Ed yelling for him to stop. But it was all pointless, trying to run damage control with the Fullmetal Alchemist is like trying to stop a speeding blullet with your bare hands, absolutely impossible. Ed crossed the ballroom in the span of ten seconds and killed the atrocities that tried calling themselves human, each throat slit and and blood pooling around the body from vicious stab wounds to the chest piercing the hearts straight through.

Kicking corpses aside he kneeled down the in massive puddle of blood."Al, I'm so sorry." Clapping his hands together once more he laid them on the suit of armor. The armor disintergrated until there was nothing left. "Al, tell mom I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you." Letting a tear slide down his face he sent a look to Scar. "Scar, is there really a god out there?"

"I belive there is. How else would anyone of us be here?" Scar responded. Ed stood up brushing off people hands.

"Then help me believe." Ed left having said what he would leaving all the military personel wide eyed in disbelief. Roy took the liberty set all the corpses on fire before they left.

The next day in Central Roy called Ed into his office. "Ed we need to talk." Roy's tone left no room for arhuement or insubordination.

"No we don't. From the look on your face your going to sprout some non-sense bullshit about me seeing some shrink. I don't need anyone to talk to. I'm perfectly fine Colonel." Ed's tone was flat and devoid of any and all emotion.

"Yes you do. Ed plain and simple I'm worried about you" Roy said getting up from his seat and leaning on his desk across from Ed.

"I would be touched but I really don't care that your worried. I never cared you worried about my brother or myself. If that is all Colonel I will take my leave." Ed left the office without looking back once at Roy or the betrayed expression on his face. Ed curtly nodded to Lieutenant Hawkeye as he passed her in the hall. After Ed was out of ear shot he smashed his hand on his desk, subconsciously activating the array on his glove and burning the desk.

**FLASHBACK END**

That had been two years ago. Scar had succeeded in making Ed a believer, it had taken a year and a half but he succeeded none the less. The walk to the train station was dominated by silence. When they reached the station Ed bought the tickets. Handing them to his fellow soldiers they proceeded through the terminal toward the platform to wait for their train to arrive. No one spoke knowing that was all it would take to set Ed off.

"Sir?" Hawkeye asked. Ed turned slowly to look at her. Breda, Falman and Havoc backed away a safe distance waiting for Ed to explode in anger. Shockingly he didn't.

"Yes Lieutenant?" Ed spoke slowly. "What is it?"

"Do we have intel on any possible threats besides the reported alchemists?" she aked. Ed shrugged his shoulder non-chalantly taking one last drag on his cigarette before tossing it to the tracks below.

"Armed goons, nothing you can't handle" Ed said.

"What is our job?!" Breda, Falman and Havoc all said at once, well more like yelled at once in Ed's ear.

"Cannon fodder, bait, the lure take your pick" Ed responded off handedly. Breda, Falman and Havoc had little anime rivers of tears sliding down their face while Ed and Hawkeye ignored them. When the train pulled into the station they took the back seat of the train.

"Great,_ two hours_ of boredom! What am I going to do?" Havoc whined. Once again Havoc was ignored as Falman and Riza were reading books(Havoc had no idea where they stored them on their person) and Ed was listening to his iPod while twirling his bangs around his automail fingers and looking out the window with a vacant expression on his face.

**TWO HOURS LATER**

Ed stood as the train came to a halt. Slipping his iPod into his breast pocket the five of them proceeded to the cities military post. When they checked in with the secretary they went to the Generals office. Knocking on the office door a rough voice bade them enter. The office was sparsely decorated, couch along the wall oak desk in the center of the room and a book shelf againgt the back wall. "You must be the troop flame face has sent to help out. I am General Freeman. Please take a seat." The General was a man looking to be in his early thirties. His light brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and looked like it was begining to gray. His green eyes were cold and calculating as he looked at each of them. His gaze landed on Ed as he was the only one of the five that hadn't taken a seat, his hands clasped behind his back. "Is there a problem?" General Freeman asked, his voice having gained a vccious edgy tone to it.

"No disrespect sir but standing is more preferable General Freeman sir" Ed said flatly. The General nodded more to himself than to the group in front of it.

"As you wish. Normally I wouldn't have request help but all my subordinates are tied into critical assignments at the moment." The General turned and looked out the window. "People are disappearing like Houdini on crack and citizens are demanding that the military do something about it. Personally I would rather let the police handle this but even they're demanding that we do something. I'll admit that it is unsettling but this more civilian police work. Well, it was until it brought to light that alchemists were behind the disappearences." He turned back to the group. Grabbing a stack of seven files from his desk drawer he handed the files to Ed. "Those files have all the information on the missing persons and the accumulated infoemation the where alchemists are and who they are. You know descriptions, alchametic abilities etc.. I want you to try and find them and bring them in for questioning and release the missing psersons to safety." The five nodded and saluted the General before standing and leaving the office single file with Ed at point.

"So where do we start?" Falman asked. Ed handed the files to Falman.

"You four are to start on these files and take notes. If you'll excuse me" Ed walked away from the group "I have a mass to catch. I'll meet you four at the hotel later." Then Ed disappeared into a crowd of people. Havoc glared at he blob of people weaving in and out of stores.

"You think he does this to ditch us?" Havoc grunted. Riza shook her head.

"No, he just has a faith to uphold" she responded as they made it to the hotel arranged by General Freeman. "Now let's get to the rooms and start on those files. Unless this be another case of me having to keep you in line like I do in the office." A creepy smirk made it way across her face as Havoc, Breda and Falman ran like the devil to the rooms and cracked the files wide open. "Works every time" she chuckled to her self. Lazily walking into one of the the three rooms she grabbed two file from Falman's hand. She set it on the bed and tossed her knap sack on one of the chairs in the room after getting her pens and note books.

One hour and fifteen minutes later Ed strolled into the rooms. It was quiet, too quiet. Transmutating a piece of scrap metal in his pocket into a dagger he slowly opened the door and raised an eyebrow. All of them were working over the files, Breda, Havoc and Falman pale as paper while Riza had a triumphant smirk on her face she kept an eye on the three in front of her while still jotting notes from the files in front of her. Taking a look at he clock Ed let out a high pitched whistle catching there attention. "Alright files put away notes on the table and scram to your rooms. We're up bright and early tomorrow to gover theses" he pointed at the notes laid out on the table "and possibly try and storm the location of the alchemists and free hostages. Dismissed." Breda, Havoc and Falman bolted from the room.

"What did you do to them?" Ed asked.

"Nothing. Just suggested they do the work or I go office discipline on them" she replied innocently.

"You threatened them didn't you?" Ed said. It was more a statement thean a question because he knew her. "People wonder why I still continue my military service with people like them" Ed grumbled under his breath.

"You know sir that is what I ponder too. Why do you continue your service when your goal was taken from you?" Riza asked grabbing a change of clothes from her knap sack.

"Repenting for my sins. Paying for the mistakes I've made" Ed's voice wavered for a second but the undertone was caught. "If I can repay all the damage I've done then when my times comes I will be able to rest easy" Ed said slipping his military coat over the back of a chair in the room.

"You know that's grim even for you. Lighten up or at the rate your going you'll have gray hairs before your twenty." Ed laughed a low bitter laugh.

"I already do Lieutenant." Riza stared in shock. An eighteen year old(don't remember how old he is in episode 51) with gray hairs? She refused to believe it. "It's true have to dye my hair every other week lest I take the chance of walking into the office looking old" Ed said slipping off his under shirt and pants before slipping on long pajama pants and a black tank top. Deciding not to dwell on it Riza took her change of clothes and changed in the bathroom.

Exiting the bathroom in a short sleeve grey shirt and shorts stopping just above her knees she noticed Ed looking over one of the files. "Are you going to bed sir?" she asked pulling back the blanket on the bed.

"In a little bit. Trying to get a little insight before I turn in. Goodnight Riza." Ed's voice was distant and sounded sleep deprived. Riza made to protest but decided against it blushing slightly. Ed had actually called her by her _name_, not Lieutenant.

"Goodnight Ed" Riza replied sleepily crawling underneath the covers and pulling them back over her. Curling into herself she sighed happily and fell asleep within a few minutes. Getting up from his seat he turned off the light by the bed to let Riza sleep. Pausing by her he her tucked bangs behind her ear and let a small contented smile settle on his face, gold eyes softening.

"Reminds me of mum before she got sick. Maybe the Major was right, maybe letting people in would help heal." Letting this final thought blow to the wind he crawled into the bed on the other side of Riza and dozed


	2. morning after and pratical joke

Ed lay awake as the night passed him. Sleep refused to come to him as he lay awake staring at the ceiling, unconsciouly turning a strand of Riza's hair around his fingers. Sitting up he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his hand around his knees while resting his chin on his automail leg. "You can out now" Ed said seemingly to nothing. Breda pulled out of the shadows and took a seat by the bed.

"You know if you were like this to everyone else they might actually like you Major" Breda said. Ed didn't say a word, he just stared at Breda with a blank look but inside he was seething.

"If I did that then by military standards I'm weak. That would make me expendable and that" Ed turned his look to Breda "will not happen in the present or any time soon. Besides" Ed removed one hands from around his knees and moved a piece of hair from Riza's face "she's a special case. I guess you could call it a soft spot but.." Ed trailed off as he shifted his gaze to Riza and his eyes went from cold and emotionless to admiring and possibly love.

"I see." Breda got up and walked out the door. Ed didn't notice of Breda leaving or Riiza turning on her side and yawning. Opening her eyes she saw a deep contemplative look on his face.

"Something wrong Ed?" Riza asked putting weight on her arms to try and sit up. Ed put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back on the bed shaking his head.

"No, everythings fine. Just was talking with Breda. He was saying if I was nicer people would approach me more like a person instead of a big scary predator or something like that" Ed responded lightly. "Go back to sleep. It's early and we have a long day ahead of us." Riza nodded and curled up on his side, resting her head between his shoulder neck. "Sleep well." Riza didn't hear him as she was already asleep. He smiled slightly combing a hand through her hair and Riza pulled closer to him unconsciously seeking his warmth.

Morning came fast. Riza woke up at her normal time feeling warm. She blushed dark red noticing that she was curled up Ed's lap. "Sleep well Riza?" Ed asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice and 'eeped' in shock.

"F-f-f fine" she stuttered disentangling herself from Ed and running into the bathroom with her knap sack in hand. Ed quirked an eyebrow but wasn't really phased. Slipping out of bed he grabbed civilian clothes and changed into them. Back in the bathroom Riza's heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. The rational part of her mind was trying to calm her down but her perverted part was sending images and sounds through her head making any form of speech incomprehensible. After smacking her head against the wall a few times, and consequentially giving herself a head ache, she managed to get her mind straight. Changing into a pair of black jeans, a blue tank top and black sneakers she left the bathroom slipping a pair of semi automatic pistols into the waist band of her jeans. Grabbing her jean jacket she went to the lobby where she knew the boys were waiting.

Down in the lobby Ed sat in the foyer with cup of coffee in hand. Falman, Breda and Havoc all made it down before Riza did and they all wore their military uniforms. Ed scowled slightly increasing his grip on the paper cup. "Upsatirs. Civilian clothes. NOW!" Ed growled, an aura of malice surrounding him. They ran fast as hell and past Riza who was just entering the lobby.

"What was that all about?" she asked buttoning her coat.

"They want to storm hostile enemy territory in military uniform. Sorry not going to happen" Ed said after taking a sip of coffee. Ed motioned toward the tray beside him that had four cups of coffee in it. "Help yourself" he said. Riza nodded her thanks grabbing three sugars and poured it before stirring and taking a sip.

Grabbing a seat on the other side of Ed they chit chatted about everything and nothing while waiting for the Three Stooges. "Hey Ed, you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Riza asked setting her coffee cup on the table beside her.

"Depends on how personal it is" he replied looking in her direction out of the corner his eye. "But ask away."

"Why do you treat me differently than everyone else? What makes me different from Havoc, Breda and everyone else? I fail to see it" she asked gazing at Ed. He merely shrugged his shoulders non-chalantly.

"Because you are who you are no matter how hard you try to mask it, the woman with a heart of gold." Riza blushed madly. "Besides you and I are the only adults in the group." Riza snickered at the context on Ed's words. "I'll let you on a scret kay?" he asked.

"What is it?"

"In the other thre cups of 'coffee'" Ed used air quotes "is actually oranges juice. If those other three want to act like kids, they'll be treated like kids."


End file.
